How Will Campbell Be Handled?

[Huddle]

Anybody care to guess with the coaching staff? How will Jason Campbell be handled this year? Here are some of the factors to consider:

a) Jason, a pocket passer, is better suited to the Saunders offense than Mark;

b) The mental side favors the veteran, Brunell. Al's offense is complex. Jason cannot be expected to grasp it in its entirety and, at the same time, read NFL defenses on the fly;

c) Brunell has started 26 games and has been bothered by nagging leg injuries in about 20 of them. Many fans think that his performance drops off rather sharply when he's not 100%. Mark will be 36 this season;

d) Rookie QBs will make mistakes but, if Jason Campbell is the future, the price for his inexperience has to be paid sooner or later;

e) Making the playoffs is the first goal but having your starting QB healthy for the playoffs is crucial if you're going to make a run at the Super bowl.


Will the coaching staff prepare Jason with a few selected starts against softer defenses?

Will they just give him a series or two per game, increase his playing time, and work him in slowly?

Will they just start him and go with him...keeping Mark in reserve for the really rough spots?

[dmek25]

no way he plays unless the game is a blowout or brunell gets injured.the skins are looking at bigger and better things than last year and wouldnt tolerate a qb making rookie mistakes

[MTK]

Like it or not it's Brunell's job this year.

The only ways Campbell is the starter opening day:

1. Campbell totally outplays Brunell in the preseason, and what I mean by totally outplay is Campbell is unquestionably, without a shadow of doubt, the better QB. If it's close at all, Brunell wins out because of his experience and Gibbs' comfort level with him.

2. Brunell goes down with an injury.

Even then, depending on how well Campbell progresses, I wouldn't rule out Collins seeing the field before him based on his experience and trust level with Saunders.

The Skins are gearing up for a Super Bowl run, and it's unlikely a 2nd year QB will be handed the keys unless he really earns it and is ready to play at a very high level.

[Daseal]

Al's offense is complex.

From everything I've read, Saunders offense isn't really that complex. The only hard part is learning some of the verbage.

I think Campbell has a great chance at starting this year.

[#56fanatic]

Brunell has to be the starting the QB. He had a good year last year. He may have fallen off towards the end and in the playoffs, but we won alot of games with him not losing games. 3000+ yards, 22 td and only 10 picks. Plus we have more weapons this year which will limit the hits he takes and the scrambling he had to do last year. I think he will put up good numbers again. Campbell will sit and learn, then handed the team in 2007.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Like it or not it's Brunell's job this year.

The only ways Campbell is the starter opening day:

1. Campbell totally outplays Brunell in the preseason, and what I mean by totally outplay is Campbell is unquestionably, without a shadow of doubt, the better QB. If it's close at all, Brunell wins out because of his experience and Gibbs' comfort level with him.

2. Brunell goes down with an injury.

Even then, depending on how well Campbell progresses, I wouldn't rule out Collins seeing the field before him based on his experience and trust level with Saunders.

I think this is spot-on. I don't see any reason to sit Mark Brunell unless he's injured. I'll keep an open mind and let Campbell show me what he's got in the preseason, but he'd have to be a lot better than Brunell for me to think it's worth playing him.

Not to turn this into a QB debate thread, but Brunell is good when healthy. When he had Patten and Moss on the field, and was healthy, he was tearing it up. When his knee got banged up and when Moss was the only WR worth a crap, Brunell struggled.

This year Brunell has the weapons at WR, so unless he's hurt I see no reason why he won't do very well for us.

[Twilbert07]

We'll be debating about Brunell and Campbell all offseason; but yes, Gibbs will stick with the veteran. The only question that remains is how many games into next season will Brunell last? He probably will be rejuvenated by having a real receivers' corps next season. If all goes well, we won't need Campbell till 2007.

[redsk1]

Agreed. Unless Brunell is injured, he won't see any PT this year.

[memphisskin]

I would sure like to see what Campbell has, this year. Why wait? He's the future of the franchise and we need to get him acclimated sooner rather than later. I say get him in there and let's see what he's got. He's held the clipboard long enough. He'll be learning the new offense just like Brunell, so why sit the young guy?

[MonkFan4Life]

I think the receivers as well as getting Randy Thomas back will help Brunell out alot. When Randy got hurt the Offensive line play dropped considerably so I think Marky Mark will be okay for the season. Collins will probably be the one to replace him if he's injured in a game. I would like to see Campbell on the field though. Hopefully he sees more playing during preseason this year because last year he didn't touch the field much. Then again it was Brunell vs Ramsey II.

[hooskins]

If you watch Cambell recent interview at redskins.com, he is pretty comfortable with NOT playing. He is a bright kid, and he knows that in about 1 or 2 seasons he will be the starter. He will learn alot to, there is no need to put him in now. Remeber we put in Ramsey really quick, and look what happened. On the most part rookie QBs do not do well their first couple years. Let Brunell play, and I like the idea of putting him in when the game is a blowout. The annual QB controversy at DC does not look that bad. We have a vet QB, who did play well last year, and we have Campbell as his backup. I think the fact we have a solid reciever core will be good for Brunell, that way he has more options, and might get sacked less, which will prevent injuries.

[Daseal]

He'll be learning the new offense just like Brunell, so why sit the young guy?

Great point!

If this were Gibbs' choice, I'd say Brunell all the way, but I think Saunders is a bit bolder. Brunell seems to rush through his options, Im not sold that more receivers will make him better at finding them.

[scowan]

I think it is a superbowl year and you can't put a somewhat rookie QB in to run the team. Too much is at stake to try out the Jason Campbell experiment this year. Brunell is the man until he gets hurt. Todd Collins maybe the man after him if Jason can't figure it out. Gibbs saw talent in Campbell, but he loves experience.

[EXoffender]

I think Saunders will not completely overhaul Gibbs playbook (that's why I'm not switching mine on Madden '06). Brunell should not have any us doubting his abilities. However, without Ramsey, Campbell should be more in tune with the offense instead of running the scout team.

[freddyg12]

Originally Posted by Daseal

Great point!

If this were Gibbs' choice, I'd say Brunell all the way, but I think Saunders is a bit bolder. Brunell seems to rush through his options, Im not sold that more receivers will make him better at finding them.

I have the same concerns, Brunell actually seems to only go deep when we're in desparate times & I think he's slower at reacting to defenses so he compensates for it by not going through all reads even when he has time.
But he's played well when healthy, we can't fault him for not being all pro caliber at this age.
I agree w/all who said that its Brunell's job to lose. I think a mattyk brings up a good point - who will be 2nd string? If JC doesn't learn the offense quickly he may find himself 3rd string at the end of training camp. HOpe that's not the case.